To Save the World
by Goddess Evie
Summary: The sequel to "Stolen Heart" another Extraterrestrial is bent on taking over the world, he only has to get through Jessie to do it.


To Save The World 

From where he sat, gagged and tied to a chair, Jonny glared at the gunman that had been assigned to guard him.  There was one for each member of his family, all off who were in the same predicament.  He was only glad Jessie wasn't here.

At the moment she was with the Anasazi being trained to control her new powers.  Which was fortunate for her, since she was who these thugs were looking for.  And they weren't very happy at not being able to find her.

"Leave her alone," Race ordered when one of the thugs threatened Estella, who was visiting.

"Then tell me where you daughter is," the bad guy, a man named Giovanni, demanded in his Italian accent.

"You wouldn't believe us if we did," Race spat.

Giovanni backhanded Race then gave the order to gag him.  "Maybe your friends will be more cooperative," he suggested.

He removed the gag from Dr. Quest and asked him the same question.  Benton simply refused to say anything.  He just stared at Giovanni with challenging eyes.

"What's wrong with you people?  Aren't you concerned for your lives?"  Giovanni roared, tipping Benton's chair over.

He turned on Jonny, removing his gag as the men worked on righting Benton and returning his gag.  "Tell me what you know boy.  Let's see if you're smarter then your elders."

"You want the truth?"  Jonny asked, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

"That is the only thing I ask," Giovanni replied in a sugary sweet voice.

"Well, for the past three months she's been in space traveling with a group of nomadic aliens who have been training her," Jonny replied.

Giovanni backhanded Jonny this time, sending him, chair and all, tumbling to the floor in mid sentence.  "Don't tell me stories, boy!"

The mischievous glint in his eyes grew brighter.  "But right now she's standing right behind you and she looks pretty pissed off to me," Jonny finished, still smiling.

Giovanni's eyes widened and, to his delight, he turned to find Jessie.  However, to his amazement, she was glowing white and Jonny's comment about her being pissed off had been an understatement.

"Somethin' ain't right here boss," one of Giovanni's lackey's commented, eyes wide with shock.

"Leave my family alone!"

Jessie had begun the order in her regular voice but had ended it in a yell.  And with the yell a shock wave of power had exploded from her body, sending Giovanni and his gang flying.  Her family barely felt a breeze as their bonds were loosened.  They quickly finished untying themselves and got up.  Benton hurried over to check on one of their "captors."

"Jessie," Jonny called as she sank to her knees, her aura fading to nothingness.

"I'll be okay," she smiled at him.  "I just need to catch my breath."

"They're unconscious, but not dead," Benton informed the group rising from where he'd knelt to check the vitals of the nearest baddie.

"My goal wasn't to kill them," Jessie assured him as Jonny helped her to rise.

"The police are on their way," Estella said, coming in the hall.

"What do we tell them?"  Jonny asked.

The three adults looked at each other, knowing they couldn't tell the cops that Jessie had used her extraordinary powers to rescue her family.

"We can cross that bridge when we come to it," Benton decided.

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"Do you think they believed our story?"  Jonny asked as he watched the police cars drive away.

Jessie shrugged.  "With all the weird things they get from us, probably."

"Not," Estella added.

The Quests all turned and headed into the house, laughing to themselves.  All at once, Jessie found herself surrounded by her parents.  They both put their arms around her in a huge hug.

"I missed you too," Jessie assured, hugging back.

"You know Jonny's eighteenth birthday is tomorrow," Race commented idly as soon as Jonny was out of earshot.

"Of course I do," Jessie replied.

"And of course we have something planned for him," Estella continued for her ex.

"Of course you do," Jessie agreed.  "But…"

"But what?"  Benton asked as he joined them.

"You're going to have to post pone yours," Jessie informed them.  "Tomorrow I'm taking him out.  It'll be just me and him."  She looked at the three adults.  "Any argument?"

Estelle, Race, and Benton looked at each other, and then sighed in defeat.

"None at all," Benton assured her.

"Just have it the next night," Jessie told them.

She walked off and Race began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"  Estella asked.

"We're going to have to call all his friends and whoever else we invited and tell them that the party has been moved back," Race told them.

Estella and Benton groaned.

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"Hey Jess, Hadji's on the phone," Jonny informed her as he walked up to her.

"Really?  Awesome," Jessie replied with a smile.

"Yeah.  He gave me orders to inform him of your arrival ASAP," Jonny told her.

Jessie laughed.  "And you can't disobey a Sultan."

They walked into the communications room to see a huge screen portraying their East Indian friend.

"Jessie.  I am glad to see you have returned," Hadji told her cheerfully.  "How was it gallivanting around space with the Anasazi?"

"Oh, it was so much fun.  The places I saw and things I learned.  They'd make even Dr. Quest flip," Jessie gushed.

"I am sure he would love to hear all about it," Hadji teased.

"Immediately after you, right?"  Jessie guessed.

"Of course," Hadji affirmed, grinning.

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"Are they laughing?"  Jessie whispered to Jonny after passing the study and hearing her parents in there.

Jonny nodded.  "They are."

"But, they don't laugh.  They argue," Jessie stuttered.

"Not for a while now, Jess," Jonny corrected.

"I'm feeling so out of the loop," Jessie sighed.

"You can catch up tomorrow," Jonny assured.  "Now get some sleep."

He kissed her forehead then turned and headed into his own room.  He didn't know how he slept with all the excitement of Jessie finally being home, but he did.  The next morning he was up late, but when he checked Jessie's room she was still asleep.  He smiled at her then sat down at her desk to watch her sleep.  Something she did for another hour before waking up.

"Happy birthday," she said smiling upon spotting him.

"Thanks," he returned.

"Let's go get some breakfast," Jessie suggested, rising and pulling her hands through her hair.

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"So, what's the plan for today?"  Race asked as he set plates piled with French Toast in front of Jessie and Jonny.

 "Well, first I'm going to go around and see all the people I haven't for the last three months. Then, tonight, Jonny and I have plans," Jessie explained.

"Oh, we do, do we?" he teased.

"Of course we do," she told him firmly, smiling at him.

"Have a fun and happy birthday kiddo," Race said before leaving the two to themselves.

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"Man, when you're gone for three months you miss a lot of stuff," Jessie exclaimed.

She and Jonny had just returned from seeing all their friends. It was only five and Jonny had wanted to stay out longer, but Jessie had insisted on coming home.

"Gotta look nice tonight Jonny.  I've got first dibs on the shower," she explained.

"We do?  Why?" he asked.

"I told you that this morning," Jessie answered.

"No, all you said was that we had plans tonight," Jonny corrected.

"And right now, that's all you need to know," Jessie informed him.

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"You certainly look nice," Jessie said admiringly when she spotted her date.

Jonny wore a pair of Khaki's and a white shirt under a blue collared shirt.

"I tried, but I'm no competition for you," he shot back with a smile.

Jessie smiled back, decked out in her white, short cut dress held up with spaghetti straps.  Her little matching purse hung from one shoulder and the white sandals on her feet completed the outfit.  Jonny pulled her into his arms and kissed her.  They didn't notice Race go by until he suddenly turned, called his daughter's name and threw something at her.  Jonny heard the distinct jangle of keys as Jessie caught them.

"Hey Race, aiming for my head?"  Jonny asked sarcastically.

"That _is_ my daughter in your arms," Race returned before disappearing into his room.

"Come on let's go," Jessie ordered, pulling Jonny behind her, both of them laughing as they went.

She led him to Race's number two pride and joy, Jessie being his first, and unlocked the sleek, black car with the device on the key ring.

"No way!"  Jonny exclaimed in disbelief, "I wanna drive!"

"Sorry, but you don't know where we're headed.  She smiled at his crushed look and kissed his cheek.  "Behave, and I'll let you drive her home," Jessie promised, laughing.

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First stop was dinner.  Nowhere fancy, just Applebee's, but Jonny wasn't disappointed.  How could he be when he was sitting across from the most beautiful girl in the world?  Of course, their waiter did subtly hit on her all night, but while he was away Jonny and Jessie made fun of him.

During dessert Jessie slid a small wrapped box across the table toward him.  He looked up at her, then took it and began to carefully unwrap it.

"Happy birthday," Jessie repeated her greeting from that morning.

"You really shouldn't have, Jess," Jonny told her.

"But I did anyway," Jessie simply replied, eating another spoonful of her ice cream.

Jonny finished unwrapping his present to reveal a dream catcher with a very unique stone woven into the middle.

"Where did you get this?"  Jonny asked, slipping it around his neck.

"One of the Anasazi gave it to me.  When I saw that stone the first thing I thought of was your eyes," Jessie admitted.

"What kind of stone is it?"  Jonny next asked.

Jessie shrugged.  "I have no idea."

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After finishing dessert and paying the bill, Jessie and Jonny returned to the car.  Jonny wondered whether they would head home or if Jessie had something else planned.  He figured, knowing Jessie, that the latter was true.

He was surprised, however, when she pulled up in front of a nightclub.  It was a place he hadn't seen in a while, but he and Jessie had been there before.  It specialized in "ball room" style dancing, which was one of the reasons the two liked it.  They could do a variety of dances from swing to Latin to waltzes to plain slow dancing.

"We haven't gone dancing in a long while, so I decided to remedy that," Jessie explained as they climbed out of the sleek, black sports car.

"This is perfect," Jonny assured her as they walked in the door.

"Hey you two, it's been a while," the bouncer greeted them with a smile and a friendly handshake.

"Hey Phil, it has," Jessie agreed with a smile of her own.

Then she pulled Jonny onto the dance floor where plenty of couples were in the middle of swing dancing.

"It's pretty packed tonight," Jonny yelled.

Jessie nodded, a huge smile on her face.  Her skirt flared as she twirled around, her and Jonny never missing a beat of the intricate moves.  They changed dance styles with the music, which eventually turned to a Latin style.  The sparkle in Jessie's eyes brightened.  She loved this type of dancing.  It was her personal favorite.  Having lived in South America for a good part of her life she knew how to perform good a many dances to this music, and she performed them well.

In fact, she performed them so well that everyone else ended up watching as she led Jonny around the dance floor.  He didn't know the dance as well as she did, but he danced with her enough to know the general style and it was easy to let her lead.

"Hey, that was awesome," some guy complimented clapping Jonny on the shoulder and shooting a smile at Jess.

A group of girls approached them next and gathered around Jonny.  "Wow, you have to teach me how to dance like that!" one gushed and gathered agreement from all her friends.

"Sorry, but she's the expert," Jonny apologized indicating Jessie with a jerk of his head and a huge smile.

Jessie giggled as she watched the girls walk away trying to not act dejected, then pulled Jonny close so they could resume their dancing.

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"We have to do that more often," Jonny commented as he shifted gears.

Race's car was flawless as it glided over the freeway that led to the cliff side road that took them home.

"Let's make a deal.  We'll go dancing once a month," Jessie suggested.

"Done," Jonny agreed, checking his mirrors yet again.

 Jessie frowned.  She had noticed that he was checking the rear view mirror an awful lot and commented on it.

"This guy has been shadowing us ever since we left the dance hall," Jonny muttered.  He shifted into a higher gear and pressed the gas pedal.

Jessie felt herself being pushed back into her seat.  "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm trying something," was all Jonny said.

There was silence for a few moments as Jonny concentrated on his driving, then suddenly shifted into the highest gear and floored it.

"Dad's gonna be mad if you ruin his car," Jessie reminded him, trying not to sound concerned as she watched him, checking her own mirror reflexively.

"He'll be even madder if you're kidnapped on your second night home," Jonny said, his eyes flickering to the rearview mirror every few minutes.

Jessie turned her head to look behind her at the featureless black car.  It was too dark for her to see inside, but she imagined someone leaning out the window and shooting at them.  She shook the image from her mind and turned to face forward.

"They can't keep up for long," Jonny muttered.

"What do you suggest we do if they follow us all the way to the house?"  Jessie wanted to know.

"Let's just say it's a good thing we have a garage," Jonny said as he turned onto the cliff side road.

The black car followed, as Jessie knew it would.  Jonny was going eighty and the car was still speeding up.  Jessie found she was clutching the sides of the seat, but she also noticed the distance between themselves and the black car was gradually increasing.

"Please don't let them start shooting at us, please, please," Jessie chanted quietly to herself.

A shot rang out after a bullet hit the cliff wall.  Jessie gave a curse as she turned to look behind her again.  However, the guy leaning out the front passenger window aiming a gun at them wasn't a figment of her imagination this time.

"They're aiming for the tires," Jessie said as she searched the dashboard for the right switch.

She found the button she'd been looking for and hit it.  A shot was fired hitting the tires, but it bounced off harmlessly.

"Thank you dad," Jessie sighed.

"Is there anyway for us to retaliate?"  Jonny asked.

"Sure, but we're so close to home it really doesn't matter," Jessie said as their turn off came into view.

Jonny gave the wheel a twist at the last minute and they went screeching onto the dirt road that led to the compound.  Only once across the bridge and the compound was in sight did Jonny slow down.  He hit the button for the garage door, which opened just in time for Jonny to pull the black sport's car in.  He pushed the button again and waited until it had fully closed before he unlocked the doors to let them out.

"Being a little paranoid, aren't we?"  Jessie teased as they entered the house.

"Sure, but I've got good reason," Jonny returned, pulling her into his arms and kissing her full on the lips.

"I was wondering when you two would get in," a voice announced startling them.

"Hadji," Jessie greeted as she pulled away from Jonny and embraced her best friend.  "I didn't realize you were going to fly in."

"I do have to keep you guys on your toes," Hadji replied, hugging her tightly.

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"Okay, here's the plan," Race said to his daughter the next morning at breakfast.

Everyone was there except for Jonny, who was still in bed.  They both had decided it would be best not to let anyone know of the incident from last night unless something else came up.

"Jessie, its your job to get Jonny out of the house.  While you're gone we'll be preparing for the party and hopefully most of the guests will have arrived before you get back," Race continued.

"How will you know when we've returned?"  Jessie asked.

"I shall be standing guard," Hadji informed her.

"About what time do you want us back here?"  Jessie next asked.

"Six thirty.  If you leave about three that should give us enough time to get everything set up.  We told everyone to be here by six, but not to start coming before five," Estella explained.

"Is everything clear?"  Race asked his daughter.

"Crystal," she replied with a smile.

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Hadji helped Jessie keep Jonny occupied in the lighthouse until about two-thirty when Jessie suggested they should go get something to eat then catch an early movie.  When invited to accompany them, Hadji declined, but Jonny didn't seem to mind.  The two were out of the house at three on the dot.  They swung through a Dairy Queen drive thru and then headed for the movie theater.

When they got out of the movie it was only five.  Jessie knew they still had a good forty-five minutes before she was supposed to head home.  She convinced Jonny to go to the mall where they did some window-shopping and browsing.  Forty-five minutes later, Jessie finally told Jonny that she wished to go home.

They sped along the freeway and then the cliff side road in Jonny's little red sports car.  This time there were no black cars speeding after them, trying to shoot their tires out.  It was a little past six-thirty when they pulled up to the house.  Both of them exited the car and headed for the house, but just as Jessie was about to open the door Jonny stopped her pulling her into his arms.

She didn't fight him off when he kissed her, but when she realized he wasn't in the mood to go in quite yet, she knew she had to take action.  She slipped out of his arms and opened the door, seeing a shadow, which she knew was Hadji, dash off.

"Hey, where're you going?"  Jonny asked, sounding a little hurt.

"Inside," Jessie giggled at him.

He followed her and she had just stepped into the entrance of the den when he caught her again.  She let him pull her close and they were in the middle of a kiss when the lights flickered on and dozens of people shouted, "Happy Birthday!"

Jessie couldn't help but laugh at the look on Jonny's face.  A flash went off, that was Estella with a camera.  Jonny was soon being congratulated, hands clapping him on the back as they propelled him forward.  He looked over his shoulder to see Jessie was still standing in the entrance to the den smiling at him.  Then she moved out of his line of sight.

Jonny found himself being seated on the couch, a girl taking the seat on either side of him.  Jonny didn't like this predicament, but he remained polite and smiling.  He looked around quickly and saw Jessie was standing far off slightly to his right, leaning against a wall, talking to her three best friends, the four of them of which were known as "The Posse."

Then, once again his attention was taken as presents were shoved at him.  Estella was going crazy with her camera, but Race finally confiscated it from her and only gave it back when she promised to give "the poor birthday boy" a break.  When it was back in her hands she made her way around the room taking pictures of the party and pausing an extra long time when she reached her own daughter.

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After unwrapping every gift Jonny finally thought he would be able to get up and head for Jessie, but the girls on either side of him had other ideas.  They kept talking to him trying to make him stay and doing a good job of it.  Every so often some other people would stop to talk to him, but they all eventually moved off.  Jonny wondered if the girls saw the wistful glances he was sending Jessie's way.

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Jessie felt sorry for her lover, but she didn't go and save him.  She was rather content just watching him from afar.  She caught the wistful glances he was throwing at her, but she was also having a wonderful time chatting with her three best friends, Amanda Flint, Vanessa "Vannie" Johnson, and Heather Pavarelli.  It was more than once however, that they had to bring her attention back from Jonny who she was gazing at.

Finally, she saw Benton enter with the cake and immediately began singing "Happy Birthday" which everyone soon joined in.  As Jonny made his wish and blew out the candles she excused herself from her friends and made her way to him.  She reached him just as the last candle flickered out.

"Hey, my wish came true," Jonny smiled as he saw her.

"There's nowhere for me to sit," Jessie apologized, pouting at the girls on either side of him who had suddenly become attached to his arms and were frowning at Jessie.

"Nonsense," Jonny said grabbing her hand and pulling her into his lap.  "There's plenty of room."

He accepted the piece of cake his father was handing him and offered the first bite to Jessie who took it.  Then, she took the piece of cake Benton was offering her and the two spent the next ten minutes feeding each other birthday cake.  The girls on either side of Jonny frowned into their own pieces of cake.

"May we have your attention," Amanda Flint called out just as Jessie had fed Jonny the last forkful of cake.

She was flanked by Heather and Vannie and waited for everyone to quiet down before continuing.

"We have a special presentation for the birthday boy," she said.

Jonny didn't like that gleam in her eye.  He liked seeing his father and Race rolling in a TV and VCR and hooking it up even less.

"So, if everyone could please find a seat we will begin," Amanda ordered, slipping a tape into the VCR.

Jonny gave Jessie a worried look as the three girls gathered around the TV beaming proudly, but Jessie just giggled at him and shrugged her shoulders.  She turned back to the TV, which had started playing the opening chords of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel."  Jonny watched as very old footage came on the screen.  It was his mother holding a newborn baby, obviously himself.  They were in a hospital and Rachel looked extremely tired, but she was smiling as she showed off Jonny to the camera.

The movie continued on like this and the only really embarrassing part Jonny found was a bit of footage the girls had stuck in of when Benton had videotaped his mother giving him a bath.  Other than that it was more nostalgic than anything and more than once Jessie wiped tears from his eyes.

As the song ended so did the footage of Jonny's early years.  Another song started, "Friend Like Me" from Aladdin and it showed Jonny older, maybe eight or nine and now both Hadji and Race had joined the picture.  Plenty of times it showed Jonny and Hadji waving at the camera until one did something to the other.  It was really funny to watch the two boys tease and prank and play with each other.  The whole room was filled with laughter.  Jonny even nearly knocked Jessie off his lap a few times from laughing so hard.  And the few glances he threw at his brother told him that Hadji too was enjoying this as much as he was.  There was even footage of the two assailing a helpless Race with snow.

After that song ended another began, "To You I Belong" by BeWitched.  Finally, Jessie was added to the footage.  They were now about twelve and the three friends seemed inseparable.  Though there were the times when Jonny and Jessie had been shot quarreling and once when they were even caught on tape in the middle of a fistfight with Hadji and Race trying to separate them.

"I remember that," Jessie said, now chuckling at the incident.

Then she fell quiet as the "movie" continued.  Now there was less fighting between Jonny and Jessie and more kissing…lots more kissing.  Most of the rest of the footage was mainly on that subject.  The cameraman didn't seem to have any qualms about walking in on the two during make-out sessions.  The room was filled with "oohs"  "ahs" and laughter.

Finally the music ended and the tape faded to black.

"Finally, it's over," Jonny exclaimed teasingly, making the whole room laugh once more.

"Come on," Jessie said, "you know you liked it."

"That last bit especially," Jonny returned, a sparkle in his eye.

He caught Jessie in a kiss who had no objections as the rest of the room chattered and congratulated the girls on a job well done.

"Happy Birthday, Quest," Amanda exclaimed, startling the two from their kiss when she dropped the tape in their laps.

"I'm burning this," Jonny said, grabbing it.

"I think not," Jessie disagreed, snatching the tape from him and holding it out of his grasp.  She handed it to Heather.  "Go put this in my room," she ordered with a wink.

"I'll never get that back," Jonny groaned.

"Our children can have a good laugh over that," Jessie assured him.

"Our children, huh?"  Jonny returned.

Then he began to tickle her and they fell over onto one of the girls that hadn't left Jonny's side all night.  Jessie tried to fight him off, laughing hysterically as he also laid playful kisses on her neck.  Too bad for her Jonny was relentless.

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"Time for bed," Jessie yawned and stretched.

The guests were all gone and the party cleaned up after.  Jonny had been allowed to just go to bed since it was his party.  Since they were all done the three adults, Estella, Benton and Race, and the two teens, Hadji and Jessie, were finally ready to get some shuteye.

"G'night you two," Race said, tousling his daughter's hair as he passed her.

Estella kissed Jessie's cheek on her way to her room and Benton winked at the two teens.  Hadji and Jessie turned and left the room together, following their parents.  They bid each other good night at the top of the stairs and headed to their own rooms.

However, when Jessie opened the door to her room she found the light on and could see the hump of Jonny's back from the other side of her bed.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Jonny's head shot up realizing he'd been caught.  He looked at Jessie with a guilty look on his face, but decided it would just be best to tell the truth.

"Looking for that tape," he told her, rising and trying to act casual.

"Out," Jessie ordered, jutting her thumb over her shoulder.

Jonny walked quickly past her to the door with a quick "Night" before closing the door to her room.  Laughing softly to herself and shaking her head at Jonny she began to get ready for bed.

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"Why isn't earth ready for the invasion?" a deep voice rumbled.

"We're working on it, my liege," a higher, shaking voice tried to assure the other.

"It should have been prepared by now," the deep voice growled.

"We've tried twice already to get rid of the Bannon girl, but she's harder to kill off than we thought, and earthlings are so useless," the smaller voice put in making excuses.

"Then send one of your men!" the first voice thundered.

"Yes, my liege," the smaller voice whimpered before terminating the signal.

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As usual and not surprising to anyone who lived with him, Jonny was the last one up the next day.  Jessie couldn't help but giggle at his "bed head" and the "not quite all there" look on his face.  She rose and ran her hands through his hair, which caused a smile to appear on his face and his hair to look like it had just been combed.

He then pulled her close and kissed her, finally getting rid of the vague look on his face.  "Good morning," he told her.

Jessie laughed again.  "It's twelve thirty."

Jonny shrugged.  "Oh well.  Good afternoon then."

They stood holding each other in silence for a few moments before Jonny broke it.

"Where's everyone else?" he asked.

"Hadji's around somewhere, Mom had to get a dress for tonight, and our fathers had some errands to run, including dropping off your tuxes at the dry cleaners," Jessie answered.

"Why would they need to do that?"  Jonny asked with a thoughtful frown.

"There's some convention tonight," Jessie explained with a shrug.

"Ah," Jonny said with understanding.

Then he let go off Jessie and turned in the direction of the kitchen.

"Breakfast," he moaned, shuffling off with Jessie giggling behind him.

However, they were sidetracked when Iris announced that there was an unknown visitor at the door.  Both turned to go answer it since they were the only ones in the house.  Jonny reached it first and opened it, Jessie behind him on tiptoes, peering over his shoulder.

"Hello?"  Jonny asked, frowning at the cloaked and hooded figure that looked like something out of a Fairy Tale.

"I seek Miss Bannon," the person answered.

"That's me," Jessie said from her place behind Jonny.

At her response, the man put his hand to his hood and pulled it back.  He was smiling an untrusting smile and there was a gleam in his eye.  But, that's not what was the scariest part about the man.  The scariest part was that he wasn't even human.

Jessie grabbed Jonny and began to run.  She had a feeling the alien hadn't come over for brunch.  She was proved right when a shot of energy blasted the wall in front of them, a near miss.  Jonny was now pulling her and they were headed into the study, toward the French doors that led into the garden.  However, when Jonny tried them he found them to be locked.

"This can't be happening," Jonny mumbled as he tried to unlock the stubborn doors.

"No," Jessie corrected, facing the advancing trespasser, "this is his doing."

Jonny looked over his shoulder at her to see she was now glowing like she had been when she had first arrived home.  Jonny knew this was out of his league and just stood back and let Jessie handle it despite the amount of desire he had to help her in someway.

"The best way to help me would be to just stay out of this Jonny," she commented, as if she had read his thoughts.

Jonny nodded as he watched the alien begin to glow as Jessie was, though it wasn't as bright as she.  Jonny watched as a ball, which glowed similarly to Jessie and her opponent, formed in front of the man and then suddenly shot forward towards Jessie.  However, the ball stopped right in front of her face and then shot back at the man who narrowly dodged it.  It crashed into the far wall behind him.

"Very good, Miss Bannon.  I can see it will be no easy task to destroy you," the stranger spoke.  "I was, of course, holding back."

Jessie just flicked her eyes at him wearing an "I'm ready" smile.  Several balls like the first shot forward and she either sent them back or dodged them.  The ones she evaded disintegrated before even passing her shoulder, as if they were hitting an invisible wall.  Jonny gave a sigh of relief.

"My turn," Jessie said.

She closed her eyes and raised her chin.  The man watched her with a curious look, then all of a sudden began to scream.  His hands came to his ears as he fell to his knees.  He continued to scream for a few more moments, then up and disappeared.  Jessie's glow faded quickly and Jonny shot forward and caught her as she began to slump.

"Are you okay?"  Jonny asked, worry evident in his whole being.

"Yeah, I'm just going to need a nap," Jessie replied, fighting to keep her eyes open.

The last thing she remembered was Jonny lifting her in his arms before surrendering to her fatigue.

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"What was all the commotion about?"  Hadji asked as he ran into the study.

Jonny was just setting Jessie down on the couch as he looked up at his brother.  "She was attacked."

"By who?"  Hadji inquired.

"An alien," Jonny said.

Pondering this, Hadji looked around and saw one wall looked like it had been hit with something hard.  There was a chunk taken out of it that looked like a mini-crater and Hadji couldn't help but think Jessie had used her powers.  Finally, he looked back at Jonny who was sitting on the floor by the couch silently holding Jessie's hand.  Hadji joined his brother on the floor, looking up at Jessie.

"She'll be fine," Jonny said with a smile.

Hadji nodded.

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"What is this?"  Race asked, his hand hovering in front of the small crater that marred one of the walls of the compound, located somewhere between the study and the front hall.

Benton stopped and peered at it, a frown on his face.  Estella joined the two men, examining it herself.

"I think we better find our children," Benton said with a sigh.

And so they did, entering the study to find Jonny and Hadji sitting on the floor beside the couch, which harbored a sleeping Jessie.

"What happened?" were the first words out of Race's mouth.

He just stood in the doorway his hands on his hips waiting for an explanation as Estella rushed forward to check on her daughter.  Jonny and Hadji gave each other sheepish looks and Benton waited for their answer next to Race.

"Well, Jessie and I were on our way to the kitchen when the doorbell rang…" Jonny began.

The three adults listened as the whole story came out.  Estella looked alarmed as he spoke, but she kept quiet.  Race blew out his breath and pushed his hand through his hair and Benton leaned back against the door, his eyes closed.

That's when Jessie woke up.  Estella tried to keep her from rising, but she was determined and was soon sitting up looking around the room, her eyes blinking away sleep.  Finally, she looked at her father, then to Jonny, then back to her father.

"I suppose you've heard what's happened already," she said.

Race nodded.  "Are you okay, Ponchita?"

Jessie smiled.  "I'm fine."

"What did you do to that guy?"  Jonny asked, looking up at his girlfriend.

Jessie looked down at him and their eyes met.  "I erased his memory and sent him somewhere isolated."

Jonny nodded, their eyes still locked.  He heard his father and Race leave and reluctantly, Estella left also.  Hadji rose and smiled at Jessie.

"I want to hear more about this alien later, as I am sure Dr. Quest does also," he told her.

She nodded, smiling back and, satisfied, Hadji followed the adults.

"I swear you read my mind earlier today," Jonny murmured.

"I did," Jessie replied softly.

"How?"  Jonny asked.

"I don't know.  I've never read anyone's mind before.  I just knew what you were thinking," Jessie explained.

"Is this gonna happen more often?"  Jonny asked.

"I'm tuned into you like a radio," Jessie said apologetically.

"And there's no way for me to block it?"  Jonny asked hopefully.

"No, I'd have to block it, but that's one thing I wasn't taught because I didn't show telepathic abilities on the Anasazi ship," Jessie replied.  "I don't know why I can read your mind and no one else's."

"I guess I better be careful of what I think," Jonny smiled.

Jessie simply smiled back.  "You eaten yet?" she then asked.

Jonny shook his head in the negative.

"Well, I'm hungry too now, so let's go do so," she suggested.

Jonny smiled at her and helped her up after rising himself.  Then, together, they headed to the kitchen.

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"I'm sorry to report that the agent we sent was unsuccessful in his mission, Lord Razyaal," the high-pitched, slightly shaking voice apologized as its owner knelt.

Razyaal closed his eyes and grumbled to himself.  "Who was it you sent?" he then asked in a controlled voice.

"Our strongest, Kinthel," came the answer.

"Looks like I'm going to have to deal with her myself then," Razyaal commented as he strode past the kneeling figure.  "Ready the ceremonial garb!"

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Jessie sat in the lighthouse in front of one of the terminals describing the alien the best she could to Hadji who was positioned in front of the other terminal typing away furiously at it.  He paused to show the 3-D copy made from Jessie's description.  Jessie screwed her face up at it then shook her head no.

"The color isn't quite right and the arms were a bit longer," Jessie stated.

Hadji bent over the computer again and began making adjustments.  Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked up at Jessie whose widened eyes were staring off somewhere else.

"He looked a lot like that," she said, pointing.

Hadji's gaze slowly followed hers until he found himself staring upon a being not unlike the one he had re-created on the computer.  He didn't have long to stare, however, for Jessie was pushing him.

"Run, get out of here," she hissed, her eyes still locked on the extra-terrestrial.

He didn't ask questions, just did as she asked.  The alien, though, seemed to have other plans.  When Hadji reached the door he found it would not open.  Finally, he let the doorknob go and turned to lean against it.  He looked to Jessie and shook his head at her.

Jessie's eyes flashed in anger and she turned to stare daggers at the intruder.  "What do you want?"

"I want you dead, girl," the being replied in a deep authoritative voice.

"Who are you?"  Hadji asked.

The being turned toward him, and with a mocking smile bowed.  "I am Razyaal, destined ruler of this planet."

"Not if I can help it," Jessie said.

She had now risen and was surrounded by a white glow.  Seeing this Razyaal imitated her, glowing a little stronger.

"I've already sent people to get rid of you, but they have failed," Razyaal explained.

"The alien from earlier today," Jessie guessed.

"Yes, Kinthel was his name.  You did a nasty job on him.  And there were also some humans I sent after you, but they also failed," Razyaal confirmed.

Jessie smiled a little.  "Why are you afraid of me?" she asked.

Razyaal laughed.  "Afraid?  I am not afraid of you.  You are merely in my way."

And with that Razyaal sent a streak of lightening directly at Jessie.

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"Intruder detected in the lighthouse," Iris chimed all through out the compound.  "Intruder alert."

Benton, Race and Jonny met in the front hall of the compound.  Estella wasn't far behind.

"You stay here," Race told her.

"I don't think so," Estella returned with a raised eyebrow, which Race knew meant business.

Race sighed, then nodded.  "Okay, everyone follow me and be careful."

He opened the front door slowly and scanned the area, but it was strangely empty.  Warily he crept outside and toward the lighthouse.  Benton, Jonny and Estella grouped behind him.  Approaching the lighthouse entrance Race pulled and cocked his gun.  He paused to put an ear to the door, then leaned back and tried to open it.

No luck.

"It's locked," he whispered in frustration.

He stood back and tried to kick the door in, but it didn't budge.  Finally, he stepped back a little more, aimed his gun, and fired.  The bullets rang out as they hit the area around the knob.  Both Jonny and Benton flinched.  But, the door now opened.

What was inside was quite a sight.

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The sound of a gun being fired scared Hadji away from the door.  Jessie had just dodged the lightening Razyaal had thrown at her.   It also startled both Jessie and Razyaal.  When she saw who was entering her eyes went wide with worry.

"No, get out of here, I'll handle this!" she yelled.

But, it was too late.  She watched as her family was lifted from the ground and contained in a transparent glowing yellow ball.  As this happened the room morphed into a larger one with curving metal walls.  Jessie narrowed her eyes at Razyaal.

"Let them go," she ordered through clenched teeth.

"What makes you think I am going to listen to you?" Razyaal wanted to know.

Jessie's answer was a whole fleet of lightening that shot from her arm as she flung it in his direction.  Razyaal tried to dodge it, but the littlest bit hit him in the side of the face.  When he turned back towards Jessie she saw that there was a trickle of blood flowing down his cheek from the tiny cut directly under his eye.  The haughty look was gone from his face to be replaced by a sneer.

"I will not stand for this," Razyaal growled, the glow around him rising.

"Neither will I," Jessie retorted, her glow also increasing.

Both fired at the same time and the shots clashed.  It turned into a battle of strength and power. Unfortunately, it was a losing battle for Jessie. Razyaal was stronger than her by just the littlest bit.  And he was slowly but surely overpowering her.

From their imprisonment in the floating sphere her whole family could see that she was putting her whole being into the fight.  It was easy to see it was painful and stressful just by looking at her face.  They watched as she screamed and her power held back Razyaal's for a moment. Then, the scream ending, she was completely overpowered, and Razyaal's attack sent her smashing into the wall behind her.

There was a general cry of worry and unbelief as this happened.  The five wide-eyed prisoners found they could only stare at Jessie as Razyaal laughed.  He laughed loud and long and it didn't seem like he would be stopping anytime soon.

"No," Jonny whispered to himself.  "This can't be."

He closed his eyes no longer able to look at his fallen love.  It hurt too much to see her in such a state.  Yet, he couldn't keep his eyes closed forever and he knew it.

However, when he finally did open his eyes it was to quite a surprise.  He found there was a stream of energy flowing from his heart directly into Jessie.  And there were similar streams coming from Race, Estella, Hadji, even Benton.  But, by far, his was the strongest.

They watched, once again in disbelief, but also in relief, as Jessie regained consciousness, her eyes fluttering open.  She rose to a crawling position, breathing hard.  She looked up at her family, catching each one's eye, ending with Jonny.  Their eyes locked, she reached a hand up to him, as if to suck more of the energy from him and the rest of their family.

Finally, Jessie rose to a standing position.  Her shoulders were still slightly slumped, but she looked at Razyaal with pure rage in her eyes.  Razyaal, who was still laughing, was unaware of what was happening, and was caught off guard when Jessie's attack hit him square in the back.  It sent him flying then smacked him against the floor.

Now, breathing just as hard as Jessie, Razyaal rose to a crawling position and looked back at Jessie.  "This isn't possible," he enraged.

Jessie didn't say anything, just sent another attack, which hit its target squarely.    Razyaal screamed as he hit the floor again sliding a few feet.  He tried to lift himself, but only succeeded in falling back to the ground.

"This isn't possible," he repeated in a weak, breathy voice.

"It must be," Jessie replied before sending her finishing attack.

Razyaal screamed in agony when it hit him and the Quest clan watched as he disintegrated in a burst of light.  The sphere containing the Quests disintegrated along with its creator and they found themselves falling to the floor from a height that could kill them.  Fortunately, at the last moment they stopped and were slowly set on the ground.  They all looked immediately to Jessie and watched as she fell to her knees, then slumped forward hitting the ground unconscious.

The walls around them faded to reveal the interior of the lighthouse.  The clan all reached Jessie at the same time, but it was Race who gathered her in his arms and carried her back to the compound and up to the room.  He took the time to tuck her in, then exited the room.  He wasn't surprised to find the rest of the family waiting patiently outside.

"No one goes into see her, she needs her rest," Race said this to everyone, but looked directly at Jonny and then Estella.

The family looked at each other, then all turned and headed down stairs, Estella and Jonny with a dejected air about them.

"She'll be fine," Race assured as he put an arm around his wife and friend.

The End


End file.
